Changing bodies, changing discourses : women's experiences of early menopause

Early menopause has been constructed by discourses of biological determinism as an untimely, but natural, failure of the female body. Medical discourses in particular have interpreted early menopause as a congenital irregularity and a rare anomaly of menopause at midlife. In this thesis I challenge the notion that early menopause is an innate imperfection related only to women’s age. I propose that early menopause is dependent upon the cultural interpretations of individual women and is constituted through the mercurial and multiple discourses of women who have this embodied experience. Moreover, I reveal that early menopause is a contemporary condition and that its location in history is inextricably bound to discourses of risk, naturalism and the self. Further I make the assumption that having an early menopause both affects and is an effect of women’s fertility, sexuality and subjectivity. I have drawn upon a broad range of sources to provide a sociological analysis of early menopause. Literature on early menopause is dominated by positivist discourses, yet many alternate discourses negotiate these influential constructions. I suggest here that the perception of early menopause as a natural fault is merely a construction by medical discourses and does not incorporate the dynamic discourses of early-menopausal women. Moreover, the restriction of early menopause to a genetic female failure excludes the majority of women who have an early menopause through iatrogenisis. This omission occurs through the failure of positivist discourses to accommodate diversity in discourses. Recent sociological and feminist studies have vindicated menopausal women. They have reconstructed menopause through notions of embodiment and have removed the veil of negativity used by the medical sciences to contain menopausal women (Komesaroff, Rothfield and Daly 1997). The visibility of menopausal women, however, remains connected to age. Menopause has been created as a predictable consequence of aging and as such has come to be synonymous with middle age. Nowadays, even men are said to experience menopause at midlife (Carruthers 1996). But early menopause is constituted within the discourses of women who have this experience. Medico-scientific discourses, based upon theories of genetic inevitability, disregard this perspective. Consequently early menopause is subsumed by naturalistic discourses that relate menopause to midlife. Such restraint reflects the unease created by menopause that does not coincide with prescribed life stages. Women's experiences of their changing bodies are largely unheard. Thus, women who have an early menopause are faced with a chasm of ‘cultural non-recognition’ (Fraser 1997). Conjointly with this discursive repression early-menopausal women face social imbalances that are transacted as both cause and consequence of early menopause. In particular the contemporary creation of early menopause is bound to the social and historical location of women as a group. Women are exploited by the institution of medicine, ‘exposure to environmental toxicity’ (Fraser 1997: 11) and commercialization as causes of early menopause. Yet the corporeal effects of practices of risk avoidance (Beck 1993), social practices (Shilling 1993) and Western consumerism (Lupton 1994) fail to be recognized. I address these problematics through a poststructural and feminist critique that assumes moments of commonality among women, while at the same time recognizes shifting and multiple differences (Nicholson 1999). I suggest here that early menopause falls into cultural misrecognition in Fraser's (1997) terms and argue that it is united concurrently with the gender injustice of androcentrism (Fraser 1997: 21). Fraser (1997: 16) suggests that it is only by relating these dual problematics that we are able to make sense of current dilemmas. Thus I have critiqued early menopause through a connection between individual embodied experiences of early menopause and early menopause as a modern phenomenon that is specific to women. I have attempted to unravel these arguments that simultaneously call to ‘... abolish gender differentiation and to valorize gender specificity’ (Fraser 1997: 21) while at the same time acknowledging their interconnectedness. An approach of merely combining women’s discourses with overarching social issues would be inadequate as not only do these problematics intersect but they also can be opposed. As Fraser (1997: 25) notes with her theory, redressing one aspect of cultural or social analysis can further imbalance another. For instance making visible the diversity and uniqueness of individual experiences of early menopause could detract from acknowledging the contemporary construction of early menopause through social inequality. Crucial to this understanding is a destabilizing of the binary construction of differences between the sexes that makes way for a reconstruction of early menopause through ‘sexual slippage’ (Matus 1995). In this thesis I look for a subtlety between the particular and the collective that views early menopause as concurrently a singular and changeable experience as well as imbedded in social practice. I suggest that these concepts are entwined as interactive effects of early menopause. Thus I have analyzed the bivalent problematics of the embodiment and social location of early menopause as imbricated, dynamic and unending discourses. From this perspective I reviewed the literature that was available on early menopause. In Chapter One I look to descriptions of early menopause and note that it has disappeared into a conglomeration of disparate, mostly medical, discourses that are contradictory. Nevertheless medical discourses offer ‘conclusive’ definitions of early menopause that are based on naturalistic views of the body (Shilling 1994). The determinants used are inconsistent and do not include women's discourses of early menopause. Thus, dominant medical discourses obscure women’s embodied experiences of early menopause and ignore the contemporary causes of early menopause. In Chapter Two I examine the causes of early menopause as a way of explaining the disparity between medical discourses and my anecdotal observations of early menopause as a fairly common contemporary occurrence. The relatively recent escalation in gynaecological surgery, especially hysterectomy, appears to account almost single-handedly for early menopause as a current phenomenon. Moreover, the extraordinary number of women who have their uterus removed at hysterectomy can be interpreted as a modern implementation of ancient anxieties. Women's sexuality has been constructed throughout history as problematic and this unease has been translated through women's bodies as dangerous and in need of control (Greer 1992). Thus social concerns which have evolved historically have emerged through the representation of a woman's uterus as an unseen, dark and mysterious risk (Beck 1993). Medical discourses define this risk and are able to negate the so-called dangers of women's sexuality through the surgical removal of their organs. Widespread negotiation of medical discourses is apparent, as hysterectomy in the modern Western world is the most common of all surgical operations (Hufnagel 1989). It is overwhelmingly the most common cause of early menopause as well. I examine also the historical condemnation of infertile women and how this anxiety has been transposed to the modern world through the commercialization of reproduction. Transactions of this social unease can cause early menopause. For instance the medical technology of in-vitro fertilization (I.V.F.) has been offered as a panacea for the infertility of early menopause but, paradoxically, can cause early menopause as well. Conception through technology has been normalized as a viable option for women who are unable to conceive and understandings of I.V.F. have moved into everyday discourse. Medical discourses have constructed fertility as a saleable item and infertile women expect that they can purchase this merchandise. Human eggs have become lucrative commodities that now are available in the market place. Egg ‘donation’ for I.V.F. programs can hasten the attrition rate of eggs and can cause early menopause in some pre-menopausal women (Rowland 1992: 24). Even the recycling of a woman’s uterus supposedly has become a possibility through the transferring of this ‘used’ organ at hysterectomy to a recipient woman who can use the other woman’s uterus as a ‘gestational garage’ (Rogers 1998). In this way women have been disembodied as mechanical systems with inter-changeable body parts and the potentially detrimental consequences of these commercial transactions are ignored. In addition I show how early menopause can be caused by the connection between the self and the social structure. Women's subjectivity is constituted through the cultural discourses available to them and these discourses affect social behaviour (Lupton 1995). For instance smoking and dieting have been identified as causes of early menopause. These activities have been related to the creation of women’s bodies as hetero-sexually desirable and are endemic to young women (Evans-Young 1995). This suggests that cultural causes of early menopause are transactions of sexual politics. Yet there is a paucity of literature that acknowledges the relationship between women’s subjectivity and early menopause. Thus the second chapter exposes a link between sexual politics and causes of early menopause through women's relationships with risk, naturalism and the self. In Chapter Three I deconstruct early menopause through theoretical considerations. I rely on an overarching poststructuralism that embraces the concept of fragmented plural discourses and the subjectivity of menopausal women as a continuous process (Komesaroff 1997: 61). I have woven these variables through broad feminist critiques (Leonard 1997). Through this eclectic approach I hoped to find some loose alignment between the corporeal, ontological and embodied dimensions of early menopause. The recurring themes of sexuality, fertility and subjectivity emerge through deconstructing discourses of sexual difference as immutable and non-negotiable; exposing ‘premature ovarian failure’ as a discursive construction that censures early-menopausal women; and acknowledging the discourses of individual women as unique, diverse and dynamic. I looked to a method of exposing some of these individual discourses and in Chapter Four I describe a critical research process aimed at understanding early menopause as a lived experience. In the remaining chapters I align these ontological arguments with an analysis of the discourses of women who had experienced or were experiencing an early menopause. This section partly relieves the ‘cultural non-recognition’ of the discourses of early-menopausal women. I recorded the narratives of fifty early-menopausal women through in-depth interviews and used this empirical data to direct the study. This data provides the opportunity to understand early menopause as an assortment of embodied experiences. For instance women’s experiences of age at commencement of menopause spanned over three and half decades. They did not reflect the age specifications prescribed by medical discourses. Rather women interpreted their experiences within their own discourses and determined their menopause as early based upon the expectations of their cultural context. Many of the women experienced changes attributed to menopause at midlife. It was not these changes that were significant to early-menopausal women it was how each woman translated these changes that provided meanings of early menopause. In Chapter Five I introduce the women through a table that connects the varying experiences of each woman. This profile shows that, in the main, the women’s experiences of early menopause were unexpected. I suggest that this is due to the disparity between early-menopausal women’s experiences and the current age and social norms of menopause. By bracketing the women into cohorts patterns emerged displaying differences between women who had menopause in their teens, twenties, thirties and forties. Adolescent women had intense feelings of abnormality and despair. Women who were in their twenties were less devastated by menopause than the younger women but described their sexuality and self-identity as changing. And although some women in their thirties were shocked or dismayed to have an early menopause others were ambivalent or happy. These women also described their sexuality and self-identity through changing discourses. A number of the women who were in their forties said that they were ‘too young for the menopause’ but were far less despondent than the younger women. It seemed that the greater the distance between age norms and social norms the more negatively women responded. Age norms that determine the social norms of women's lives through a ‘biological clock’ are constructed to reflect social values. But age is a social construction that changes over time. Thus it would appear that women’s changing bodies and changing discourses of early menopause are in the process of recreating age and social norms around menopause. In Chapter Six I draw upon women’s narratives that describe a connection between early menopause and sexuality. Yet the respondents were not unified in their constructions of sexuality. For instance a number of the women rejected the containment of their sexuality as absolute and defined in terms of bi-lateral hetero-sexual opposition. The discourses of these women constructed their sexuality as continuously flexible. Some early-menopausal women described this sexual mobility as an equivocal relationship between their sexuality, reproductive capacity and female organs. Other women articulated their sexuality as vacillating, ambiguous and unrepresentative of the so-called ‘true woman’. Several felt that they were not meant to have female reproductive organs at all. Nearly one third of the women had had their uterus removed at hysterectomy and the reproductive organs of two women were rudimentary. Women’s narratives showed that the social value of fertility influences constructions of early menopause. In Chapter Seven I record the contrast between the poignant responses of women who wished to have a baby of their own and other women who resisted discourses that entwine reproductivity with being a woman. For instance some women negotiated fertility through economic discourses of consumerism with the expectation that they could purchase conception as a commodity. Other women welcomed their early menopause as freedom from contraceptive concerns and others had no interest in reproduction at all. Thus discord arose through discourses that problematize early-menopausal women as non-reproductive and discourses that value variability. In addition many of the women’s accounts constructed their subjectivity as mobile, challenging the notion that discourses of the self are immutable. Chapter Eight presents narratives which suggest that the subjectivity of many women was altered continuously by early menopause. Yet some of the women rejected the construction of their subjectivity as unfluctuating. These contradictions reflect the uncertainties of the contemporary world. Nevertheless most respondents found that the tethering of menopause to constructions of midlife was incongruous with their own experiences. Many women refused to accept the label of social redundancy attached to middle-aged women. They moved their subjectivity beyond the reproductive body to a shifting and tractable identity of the self. This thesis demonstrates that the medical construction of early menopause as a rare and natural female flaw varies from women's experiences which suggest that early menopause is common and discursively constructed. This disparity has occurred through the privilege placed upon the construction of bodies as immutable and sexually static. This privileging has obscured the multi-dimensional causes of early menopause and given preference to a mono-causal theory. By exposing the variety of causes of early menopause the medical construction of women through a universal and unalterable body of reproduction is challenged. Moreover, women's discourses of early menopause demonstrate that the medical reduction of early menopause to a spontaneous bio-chemical malfunction has ignored the volatility of women’s embodied experiences. Women experience early menopause variously and through mercurial discourses. I suggest here that women's discourses of their experiences of early menopause reflect recurring and restructuring philosophical quandaries of fertility, sexuality and subjectivity. While there can be no representative claims made from this thesis it contributes to an understanding of the embodied experiences of early menopause. It provides an understanding of the creation of early menopause through social practices and goes part way to redressing the problematics of what Fraser terms ‘cultural non-recognition’. But, more importantly, it acknowledges early menopause as a variety of experiences where women interpret their changing bodies through changing discourses.

Monumental vision : a confrontation with the image of the Eternal Return

"Monumental Vision” is a nuanced summary of Nietzschean nihilism and the Eternal Return as rite of passage for free subjects and as condensed image of speculative intelligence proper. Utilizing Gerhard Richter’s “Sheet 692” from Atlas, a series of photographs of the mountains and lake at Sils Maria, Switzerland, as summary judgment of the limit imposed by this condition on all systems of representation, this form of vision discloses the chiasmus embedded in consciousness itself. In constantly revisiting Sils, the very location where Nietzsche “suffered” the vision of the Eternal Return, Richter has engaged repeatedly this origin for what has come into his work via Nietzsche – that is, an elective veil that refuses all compromises with transcendence until such is merged with immanence.

As situated amidst modernist “ideology as intellection”, and subsequent nascent forms of anti-modernism, the Eternal Return as image also signals the return of the Kantian “aesthetic-teleological” synthesis in non-discursive or purely visual agency. As an elective form of aesthetic vision, and as image of time insofar as it registers an overwhelming externality (Other) that nominally swallows and empowers the subject at once, this excoriating sense of universal praxis underwrites artistic and architectural production of the highest order, renegotiating concepts of the paradigmatic.

Utilizing Georg Simmel’s late work on Rembrandt (1916) and his encounter with Schopenhauer and Nietzsche (1907), the essay suggests that by the 1920s the avant-garde premises of modernism had already come under attack by an ahistorical and synoptic vision here denoted “monumental vision,” which also contains the imprint of eschatological time (invoking a schism present in rationality as such). The two readings of this image perpetrated by Karl Löwith in Nietzsche’s Philosophy of the Eternal Recurrence of the Same (Nietzsches Philosophie der ewigen Wiederkehr des Gleichen, 1935), or the cosmological and the ethical, while considered irreconcilable by Löwith, have since the 1960s been recalibrated through the figure of the event to pose possible scenarios out of the stalemate of the confrontation between Self and Other (ipseity and alterity) buried within this image as limit. In this manner, the image of the Eternal Return stands at the boundary between two forms of time (or two worlds) and signals the irreducible confrontation present in speculative thought and the necessity of closure through an aesthetic vision that produces a unitary field for all creative acts.

Notably, Nietzsche’s startling vision from Zarathustra suggests that the limit imposed by the Eternal Return is also a mask for an austere condition within subjectivity closely resembling the conundrum of Fichte’s I facing I, or thought turned toward thought itself (absolute subjectivity as cipher for Being). In Alenka Zupančič’s reading, in The Shortest Shadow: Nietzsche’s Philosophy of the Two (2003), the Eternal Return effectively contains a secret formal function that grinds all “error” to dust – a highly suggestive interpretation that also neutralizes the schism introduced by Löwith between the cosmological and the ethical.

"It's about freedom": contesting dominant representations of devout Muslim women in the space of the nation

Since September 11 there has been a rise of Islamophobia in Australian public discourse, matched by a growth of racialised attacks on visibly identifiable Muslims in public space. These cultural racisms have arisen in a context where Islamic religious signifiers and practices have come to be read as signs of fundamentalism, terrorism and threat to national political traditions and cultural values. In particular, the hijab has become a symbol of these tensions, with the veiled woman being read as the embodiment of a ‘repressive and fundamentalist religion’. However, as some Muslim and feminist scholars have proposed, these readings rob Muslim women of their ability to articulate the reasons why wear the veil or engage in gendered religious practices. This paper argues that this enacts a form of disembodiment, whereby Muslim womens’ ability to comfortably inhabit their bodies and assert themselves in the public sphere is limited. In particular the paper draws upon two case studies which express this disembodiment, whilst highlighting the counter-strategies that devout Muslim women are adopting to reinsert their bodies and narratives in the national frame. The first refers to the recent media backlash which followed a public lecture held at Melbourne University by Islamic organization Hikmah Way, where the audience was segregated along gender lines. The second draws upon interviews conducted with veiled Muslim women in Sydney, following the Cronulla riot. These interviews show how Muslim women are contesting dominant representations of the hijab in western popular discourse by recoding it as a signifier of religious and national identity, and as an expression of democratic freedom.

Responsabilidade tributária de grupos econômicos

A presente pesquisa tem por objetivo investigar a responsabilidade tributária de grupos econômicos. Para tanto, analisa inicialmente o que é grupo econômico a partir da evolução da organização da empresa, verificando as formas de regulação no direito societário, bem como nos demais ramos do direito, especialmente o tributário. Em seguida, se debruça sobre a limitação da responsabilidade, a desconsideração da personalidade jurídica e a responsabilidade tributária. Verifica, então, em quais hipóteses poderia haver a responsabilidade tributária de grupos econômicos, sendo analisadas as possibilidades com fundamento legal no art. 30, IX, da Lei nº 8.212/91; art. 124 da Lei nº 5.172/66; art. 50 da Lei nº 10.406/2002; art. 990 da Lei nº 10.406/02 combinado com o art. 126, III, da Lei nº 5.172/66; e art. 116, §1º, da Lei nº 5.172/66. Por fim, aborda aspectos processuais da responsabilidade de grupos econômicos, com enfoque no incidente de desconsideração da personalidade jurídica previsto no Código de Processo Civil de 2015.

A investigação criminal e a vedação ao anonimato no sistema jurídico brasileiro

The thesis, prepared with basis on deductive reasoning (through the utilization of general concepts of the fundamental rights theory) and on inductive logic (by means of the consideration of particular situations in which the theme has been approached) deals with the criminal investigation and the prohibition of anonymity in the Brazilian law system. The state criminal investigation activity presents not only a substantial constitutional basis, due to the objective dimension of fundamental rights (which imposes an obligation to protect these essential values), but also a formal constitutional basis, arising from the administrative principles of rule of law, morality and efficiency, referred to in article 37 of the Constitution. The criminal investigation, however, is not an unlimited pursuit, being restrained by the duty to consider fundamental rights that oppose to its realization. One of the limits of the state investigation activity, in the Brazilian law system, is the prohibition of anonymity, referred to in article 5°, IV, of the Constitution. This prohibition is a direct constitutional restriction to the freedom of expression that aims to ensure the credibility of the diffusion of ideas and prevent the abusive exercise of this fundamental right, which could harm both persons and the state, with no possibility of punishment to the offending party. Generally, based on this prohibition, it is affirmed that a criminal investigation cannot begin and progress founded on anonymous communication of crimes. Informations about crimes to the investigative authorities require the correct identification of the stakeholders. Therefore, it is sustained that the prohibition of anonymity also comprehends the prohibition of utilization of pseudonyms and heteronyms. The main purpose of this essay is to recognize the limits and possibilities in starting and conducting criminal investigations based on communication of crimes made by unidentified persons, behind the veil of anonymity or hidden by pseudonyms or heteronyms. Although the prohibition of article 5°, IV, of the Constitution is not submitted to direct or indirect constitutional restrictions, this impediment can be object of mitigation in certain cases, in attention to the constitutional values that support state investigation. The pertinence analysis of the restrictions to the constitutional anonymity prohibition must consider the proportionality, integrated by the partial elements of adequacy, necessity and strict sense proportionality. The criminal investigation is a means to achieve a purpose, the protection of fundamental rights, because the disclosure of facts, through the investigatory activity, gives rise to the accomplishment of measures in order to prevent or punish the violations eventually verified. So, the start and the development of the state criminal investigation activity, based on a crime communication carried out by an unidentified person, will depend on the demonstration that the setting up and continuity of an investigation procedure, in each case, are an adequate, necessary and (in a strict sense) proportional means to the protection of fundamental rights

Augusto Matraga: um hérói além do bem e do mal - uma perpectiva trágico-ntológica

The present dissertation analyses the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) and the short story written by João Guimarães Rosa (1908-1967), A hora e vez de Augusto Matraga (1946) seeking to point out the possibility of the philosophic application of some Nietzschean ideas to enlarge the aesthetic value of the short story. It has been especially aimed at applying the concept of the noble superior being described by Nietzsche, the ubermensch, to the hero s ontological nature, Augusto Matraga. Nietzsche s postulates of the will to power, the elements suggested of the trial between Dionysus and Apollo and the ascetic ideal, will be especially relevant to this work, which intends to establish until what point the hero can be conceived as a good ascetic person, in so far as his noble ontological nature trespass the Christian morality, bringing him closer to the man who, according to Nietzsche, is beyond good and evil. Some Heideggerian concepts will also be relevant in order to reinforce the idea that the judgment created about Matraga is just an appearance that does not contemplate his essential Being, contributing to veil his real tragic-ontological valour, what implies that the aesthetic power of the short has been under valued

Desenvolvimento morfo-anatômico do fruto de Dalbergia nigra (Vell.) Fr. All. (Leg. - Papilionoideae)

Detalhes morfológicos e anatômicos dos frutos de Dalbergia nigra (Veil.) Fr. All. foram descritos e ilustrados em vários estágios de desenvolvimento.

Florística e fitossociologia em parcelas permanentes da Mata Atlântica do sudeste do Brasil ao longo de um gradiente altitudinal

This paper summarizes floristic and phytossociology data of 11, out of 14 plots of 1 ha, allocated along an altitudinal gradient in the Serra do Mar, Silo Paulo, Brazil. The study was conducted at Serra do Mar State Park and the plots start at the sea level (10 m - plot of Restinga Forest that occurs at Praia da Fazenda, Picinguaba, municipality of Ubatuba) up to 1100 m above sea level (the Montane Ombrophilous Dense occurs alongside the Itamambuca Trail, municipality of Silo Luis do Paraitinga). The Restinga Forest occurs in Pleistocenic Coastal Plain where the soil is classified as a sandy Quartzipsamment (Quartzenic Neosol), while along the slopes of the Serra do Mar, the Ombrophylus Dense Forest grows on the top of a pre-Cambrian crystalline basement with granitic rocks, where the soil is a sandy-loam Dystrophic Inceptisol (Cambisol/Latosol). In all 14 plots soils are acidic (pH 3 - 4), chemically poor, with high dilution of nutrients and high saturation of aluminum. In the Restinga and at the foot of the slope the climate is Tropical/Subtropical Humid (Af/Cfa), with no dry season, an average annual rainfall over 2,200 mm and an average annual temperature of 22 degrees C. Towards the top of the Serra do Mar there is a gradual cooling along the slope, but there is no reduction in rainfall, so at 1,100 m above sea level the climate is classified as Humid Subtropical (Cfa/Cfb), with no dry season and an average annual temperature of 17 degrees C. It is important to remark that, almost daily, from 400 m above sea level up to the top of slopes the mountains are covered by a dense fog. In the 14 plots 21,733 individuals with DBH >= 4.8 cm, including trees, palms and ferns, were marked, measured and sampled. The average number of individuals sampled in each plot was 1264 ind.ha(-1)(+/- 218 SE 95%). Within the parameters considered trees prevailed (71% in the Montane ODF to 90% in the Restinga Forest), followed by palms (10% in the RF and 25% in the Montane Ombrophilous Dense Forest/ODF) and ferns (0% % in the RF and 4% in the Montane ODF). Regarding these proportions the Exploited Lowlands ODF differs from the others with only 1.8% of palm trees and striking 10% of ferns. The forest canopy is irregular with heights ranging from 7 to 9 m, rarely emergent trees reach 18 m, and due to this irregularity of the canopy the amount of light that gets through sets conditions for the development of hundreds of epiphytic species. Aside from Montana ODF, where the number of dead trees was more than 5% of individuals sampled, in the other phytophysiognomies this value was below 2.5%. In the 11 plots where the floristic study was conducted we found 562 species in 195 genera and 68 families. Only seven species - Euterpe edulis Mart. (Arecaceae), Calyptranthes lucida Mart. ex DC. and Marlierea tomentosa Cambess (both Myrtaceae), Guapira opposita (Veil.) Reitz (Nyctaginaceae), Cupania oblongifolia Mart. (Sapindaceae), Cecropia glaziovii Snethl. and Coussapoa microcarpa (Schott) Rizzini (both Urticaceae) - occurred from Restinga to Montane ODF, while 12 other species did not occur only in the Restinga Forest. Families with the greatest number of species are Myrtaceae (133 spp), Fabaceae (47 spp), Rubiaceae (49) and Lauraceae (49) throughout the gradient and Monimiaceae (21) specifically in portions Montane ODF. Only in the F plot, where logging has occurred between 1950 and 1985, the abundance of palm trees has been replaced by Cyatheaceae. The study shows a peak of diversity and richness, Shannon-Weiner index (H') ranging from 3.96 to 4.48 nats.ind(-1), in the intermediate altitudes (300 to 400 m) along the slope. Several explanations for this result are raised here, including the fact that these elevations are within the limits expansions and retractions of the different phytophysiognomies of the Atlantic ODF due to climate fluctuations during the Pleistocene. The results presented in this paper demonstrate the extraordinary richness of tree species of the Atlantic Rainforest from the northeastern coast of the State of São Paulo, reinforcing the importance of its conservation throughout the altitudinal gradient. The richness of this forest justifies a long term commitment to study its dynamics and functioning through permanent plots, and monitor the impacts of climate change in this vegetation.

Production flush of Agaricus blazei on Brazilian casing layers

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Study of some Brazilian Myrtaceae in Jaboticabal sp

The family Myrtaceae is one of the most important related to fruit species. In Brazil it encloses more than 100 species of native fruit from North to South of the country (Giacometti, 1992; Donadio, 1992; Mattos, 1992). The genus Eugenia, Campomanesia, Psidium and Myrciaria are the most important, grouping most of the species of some importance. The germplasm bank of the Universidade Estadual Paulista includes some of the major species. Some characteristics are typical for most of the Myrtaceae fruit species. The most relevant are the long juvenile period presented by the trees, taking long time to produce, when propagated by seed; the slow growing tree behavior; difficult to propagated by vegetative means; large variability in trees obtained by seed propagation. The cited characteristics are commented for some species as well as the fruit quality, from data obtained in trees at the same ecological conditions.The species evaluated are: 1) Eugenia stipitata Mc Vaugh; 2) Eugenia tomentosa Cambes; 3) Eugenia brasiliensis Lam.; 4) Eugenia uniflora L.; 5) Eugenia luchsnathiana Berg.; 6) Eugenia uvalha Cambess; 7) Camponesia spp; 8) Plinia edulis (Veil. Sobral); 9) Eugenia involucrata D.C.; 10) Psidium acutangulum Mart.; 11) Myrciaria dubia Mc Vaugh; 12) Engenia guabiju Berg. The main conclusions based on the data analysed are: the fruits of some species present good general characteristics, mainly for fresh consumption, as high Vitamin C, sugars, pulp and other characteristics; 'Araca-boi' presents some good fruit characteristics, but is more adapted for processing, by its high acidity; Some species present low % of edible portion and need to be improved to gain commercial acceptance. mainly the 'cabeludinha' and 'cambuca'.

Study of some brazilian myrtaceae in jaboticabal-sp

The family Myrtaceae is one of the most important related to fruit species. In Brazil it encloses more than 100 species of native fruit from North to South of the country (Giacometti, 1992; Donadio, 1992; Mattos, 1992). The genus Eugenia, Campomanesia, Psidium and Myrciaria are the most important, grouping most of the species of some importance. The germplasm bank of the Universidade Estadual Paulista includes some of the major species. Some characteristics are typical for most of the Myrtaceae fruit species. The most relevant are the long juvenile period presented by the trees, taking long time to produce, when propagated by seed; the slow growing tree behavior; difficult to propagated by vegetative means; large variability in trees obtained by seed propagation. The cited characteristics are commented for some species as well as the fruit quality, from data obtained in trees at the same ecological conditions. The species evaluated are: 1) Eugenia stipitata Me Vaugh; 2) Eugenia tomentosa Cambes; 3) Eugenia brasiliensis Lam.; 4) Eugenia uniflora L.; 5) Eugenia luchsnathiana Berg.; 6) Eugenia uvalha Cambess; 7) Camponesia spp; 8) Plinia edulis (Veil. Sobral); 9) Eugenia involucrata D.C.; 10) Psidium acutangulum Mart.; 11) Myrciaria dubia Me Vaugh; 12) Eugenia guabiju Berg. The main conclusions based on the data analysed are: The fruits of some species present good general characteristics, mainly for fresh consumption, as high Vitamin C, sugars, pulp and other characteristics; 'Araca-boi' presents some good fruit characteristics, but is more adapted for processing, by its high acidity; Some species present low % of edible portion and need to be improved to gain commercial acceptance, mainly the 'cabeludinha' and 'cambuca'.

Fast preparative separation of flavones from capitula of Eriocaulon ligulatum (Vell.) L.B.Smith (Eriocaulaceae) by High-speed countercurrent chromatography (HSCCC)

High-speed countercurrent chromatography (HSCCC) is a leading method for the fast separation of natural products from plants. It was used for the preparative isolation of two flavone monoglucosides present in the capitula of Eriocaulon ligulatum (Veil.) L.B.Smith (Eriocaulaceae). This species, known locally as botão-dourado, is exported to Europe, Japan and North America as an ornamental species, constituting an important source of income for the local population of Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The solvent system, optimized in tests prior to the HSCCC run, consisted of the two phases of the mixture ethyl acetate: n-propanol: water (140:8:80, v/v/v), which led to the successful separation of 6-methoxyluteolin-7-O-β-D-allopyranoside and 6-methoxyapigenin-7-O-β-D-allopyranoside in only 3 hours. The two flavonoids were identified by NMR (1-D and 2-D) and ESI-MS, comparing their spectra with published data.

“A gente tem uma vida lá fora...”: relações entre gestão de recursos humanos e sociabilidade das pessoas empregadas nos supermercados da Região Metropolitana de Belém

A gestão de recursos humanos (RH) representa teoricamente uma abordagem da gestão empresarial voltada à organização do trabalho visando seu melhor aproveitamento e, em particular, o envolvimento dos trabalhadores nos objetivos da empresa. As práticas de gestão incidem não somente sobre o trabalho em si, mas também de maneira complexa nas interações sociais ocorridas no ambiente de trabalho, bem como na vida pessoal dos trabalhadores, de acordo com as premissas e práticas do estilo de gestão predominante. O presente estudo procura conhecer a natureza das correlações entre gestão de recursos humanos e sociabilidade dos trabalhadores, isto é, sua capacidade de tecer e de manter laços sociais diversos, a partir dos pontos de vista dos trabalhadores. Tomaram-se como referência empírica quatro redes de supermercados na Região Metropolitana de Belém, Pará. O setor é grande empregador, vem se modernizando expressivamente nas duas últimas décadas, implementando alguns procedimentos de gestão de RH e se mantém ao abrigo da forte concorrência de grupos nacionais e internacionais que se observa em outras capitais do país. A metodologia incluiu observações sistemáticas, análise documental e entrevistas estruturadas e semi-estruturadas em profundidade, respectivamente com trezentos e oitenta e quatorze trabalhadores, estes últimos selecionados dentre os constantes da amostra maior. As entrevistas versaram sobre atributos sociais e demográficos, trajetória ocupacional e padrões de relacionamento pessoal e profissional. Abrangeram, também, as percepções sobre regras e atitudes no trabalho, com base nas normas constantes dos manuais de serviço das empresas. Incluem-se trinta e quatro itens em uma escala de Lickert. Esses itens foram dispostos em fatores, sendo dois sobre gestão – qualidade do trabalho (QT) e introjeção das normas organizacionais (IN) – e três sobre sociabilidade – confiança (CF), manutenção (MR) e utilidade das relações (UT) no trabalho. Os entrevistados respondiam aos itens, ajustando o grau de sua percepção sobre cada um deles. Tais dados foram submetidos à técnica estatística exploratória Análise de Correspondência (AC) de maneira a verificar a correlação entre os fatores da escala e as características dos entrevistados. Sobre as correlações entre gestão e sociabilidade, sobressaiu em primeiro lugar o regime de trabalho. Jornadas extensas, escalas variáveis, longos intervalos diários e a política de qualificação em serviço (on the job) absorvem quase integralmente o tempo do empregado e dificultam manter relações pessoais ou mesmo estender aquelas formadas no ambiente de trabalho para além deste espaço. Dificulta também investir nos estudos, outra esfera de sociabilidade, o que surpreende em uma amostra cuja faixa etária predominante não ultrapassava trinta anos e cuja ocupação tem poucas possibilidades de carreira. Nesse quadro geral de restrições, a condição de gênero e de família também foi relevante, pois as mulheres, em particular as mães, indicaram menos atividades de lazer, em grupos menores e com mínima presença de colegas de trabalho, em comparação aos homens. Por outro lado, encontraram-se alguns casos de pessoas que construíram relações de conteúdo afetivo no ambiente de trabalho, mesmo a convivência se restringindo à empresa. Outra característica marcante foi a dependência do apoio familiar para o exercício da atividade laboral e para o enfrentamento das vicissitudes do mercado de trabalho. A importância dos laços familiares foi reforçada pelo longo tempo de moradia no mesmo bairro e, em proporção significativa, na mesma residência, em muitos casos a moradia era próxima ou no mesmo domicílio dos pais ou sogros, o que facilitava a ajuda mútua. Outro aspecto que se destacou da gestão de RH foi a imprecisão percebida nos critérios de ascensão profissional e de aplicação das normas, contribuindo para a existência de conflitos velados. Ao estabelecer laços sociais, os empregados depositam uma confiança seletiva, expressa no pequeno número de pessoas em quem se confiava no trabalho. Vale notar aqui também uma pequena variação entre homens e mulheres, pois eles confiavam mais que elas nos colegas. A AC mostrou sensíveis diferenças de percepção sobre qualidade do trabalho e introjeção de normas entre os trabalhadores com primeiro registro em carteira e aqueles com experiência anterior de trabalho formal. Os primeiros notaram um controle (vigilância) mais incisivo da gestão e expressaram menor anuência às regras organizacionais, enquanto que os demais não percebiam o controle da mesma forma e se viam como cumpridores dessas regras. Esses resultados foram interpretados como decorrentes das diferentes trajetórias anteriores, em ocupações formais ou informais, ou por se tratar do primeiro emprego. Não se pode afirmar que as restrições à sociabilidade se devam exclusivamente às características da gestão nesse setor, tendo em vista a incidência de outros fatores, tais como a condição sócio-econômica da família ou o tempo do vinculo empregatício, em média de dois anos entre os entrevistados, que podem ter contribuído para esses resultados.

Predicting soluble solid content in intact jaboticaba [Myrciaria jaboticaba (Vell.) O. Berg] fruit using near-infrared spectroscopy and chemometrics

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Experiências com livros que exploram a sua materialidade: mediações e leituras possíveis

Pós-graduação em Artes - IA