Romany Families in Romania: Intelligence and Personality of Children Cross-cultural and Specific Problems of Development

Psychogenetic research has emphasised the influence of social factors on a child's intellectual development. In her work, Ms. Dumitrascu examines two such factors; family size and order of birth. However, since these formal parameters tend to be unstable, other more informal factors should be taken into consideration. Of these, perhaps the most interesting is the "style" of parental education, which Ms. Dumitrascu regards as an expression of national traditions at the family level. This educational style is culture dependent. Only a comparative, cross-cultural study can reveal the real mechanism through which educational style influences the development of a child's intellect and personality. Ms. Dumitrascu conducted an experimental cross-cultural study aimed at examining the effects of the family environment on a child's intellectual development. Three distinct populations were involved in her investigation, each having quite a distinct status in their geographical area; Romanians, Romanies (Gypsies) from Romania, and Russians from the Republic of Moldova. She presented her research in the form of a series of articles written in English totalling 85 pages, and also on disc. A significant difference was revealed between the intelligence of a child living in a large family, and that of a child with no brothers or sisters. In the case of Romany children, the gap is remarkably large. Ms. Dumitrascu concludes that the simultaneous action of several negative factors (low socio-economic status, large family size, socio-cultural isolation of a population) may delay child development. Subjected to such a precarious environment, Romany children do not seek self-realisation, but rather struggle to survive the hardship. Most of them remain out of civilisation. Unfortunately, adult Romanies seldom express any concern regarding their children's successful social integration. The school as main socialisation tool has no value for most parents. Ms. Dumitrascu argues the need for a major effort aimed at helping Romany's social integration. She hopes this project will be of some help for psychologists, social workers, teachers, and all those who are interested in the integration into society of minority groups.

Identification of specific problems and countermeasures targets for reducing alcohol related casualties. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Health problems awareness during travel among faculty members of a large university in Latin America: preliminary report

Health safety during trips is based on previous counseling, vaccination and prevention of infections, previous diseases or specific problems related to the destination. Our aim was to assess two aspects, incidence of health problems related to travel and the traveler's awareness of health safety. To this end we phone-interviewed faculty members of a large public University, randomly selected from humanities, engineering and health schools. Out of 520 attempts, we were able to contact 67 (12.9%) and 46 (68.6%) agreed to participate in the study. There was a large male proportion (37/44, 84.1%), mature adults mostly in their forties and fifties (32/44, 72.7%), all of them with higher education, as you would expect of faculty members. Most described themselves as being sedentary or as taking occasional exercise, with only 15.9% (7/44) taking regular exercise. Preexisting diseases were reported by 15 travelers. Most trips lasted usually one week or less. Duration of the travel was related to the destination, with (12h) or longer trips being taken by 68.2% (30/44) of travelers, and the others taking shorter (3h) domestic trips. Most travelling was made by air (41/44) and only 31.8% (14/44) of the trips were motivated by leisure. Field research trips were not reported. Specific health counseling previous to travel was reported only by two (4.5%). Twenty seven of them (61.4%) reported updated immunization, but 11/30 reported unchecked immunizations. 30% (9/30) reported travel without any health insurance coverage. As a whole group, 6 (13.6%) travelers reported at least one health problem attributed to the trip. All of them were males travelling abroad. Five presented respiratory infections, such as influenza and common cold, one neurological, one orthopedic, one social and one hypertension. There were no gender differences regarding age groups, destination, type of transport, previous health counseling, leisure travel motivation or pre-existing diseases. Interestingly, the two cases of previous health counseling were made by domestic travelers. Our data clearly shows that despite a significant number of travel related health problems, these highly educated faculty members, had a low awareness of those risks, and a significant number of travels are made without prior counseling or health insurance. A counseling program conducted by a tourism and health professional must be implemented for faculty members in order to increase the awareness of travel related health problems.

HEALTH PROBLEMS AWARENESS DURING TRAVEL AMONG FACULTY MEMBERS OF A LARGE UNIVERSITY IN LATIN AMERICA. PRELIMINARY REPORT

Health safety during trips is based on previous counseling, vaccination and prevention of infections, previous diseases or specific problems related to the destination. Our aim was to assess two aspects, incidence of health problems related to travel and the traveler’s awareness of health safety. To this end we phone-interviewed faculty members of a large public University, randomly selected from humanities, engineering and health schools. Out of 520 attempts, we were able to contact 67 (12.9%) and 46 (68.6%) agreed to participate in the study. There was a large male proportion (37/44, 84.1%), mature adults mostly in their forties and fifties (32/44, 72.7%), all of them with higher education, as you would expect of faculty members. Most described themselves as being sedentary or as taking occasional exercise, with only 15.9% (7/44) taking regular exercise. Preexisting diseases were reported by 15 travelers. Most trips lasted usually one week or less. Duration of the travel was related to the destination, with (12h) or longer trips being taken by 68.2% (30/44) of travelers, and the others taking shorter (3h) domestic trips. Most travelling was made by air (41/44) and only 31.8% (14/44) of the trips were motivated by leisure. Field research trips were not reported. Specific health counseling previous to travel was reported only by two (4.5%). Twenty seven of them (61.4%) reported updated immunization, but 11/30 reported unchecked immunizations. 30% (9/30) reported travel without any health insurance coverage. As a whole group, 6 (13.6%) travelers reported at least one health problem attributed to the trip. All of them were males travelling abroad. Five presented respiratory infections, such as influenza and common cold, one neurological, one orthopedic, one social and one hypertension. There were no gender differences regarding age groups, destination, type of transport, previous health counseling, leisure travel motivation or pre-existing diseases. Interestingly, the two cases of previous health counseling were made by domestic travelers. Our data clearly shows that despite a significant number of travel related health problems, these highly educated faculty members, had a low awareness of those risks, and a significant number of travels are made without prior counseling or health insurance. A counseling program conducted by a tourism and health professional must be implemented for faculty members in order to increase the awareness of travel related health problems.

A atividade fisica no processo de envelhecimento : uma proposta de trabalho

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física

Regulating industrial forest concessions in Central Africa and South America

Tropical countries face special specific problems in implementing sustainable forest management (SFM). In many countries, questions are raised on whether tropical forests should be publicly, commonly or privately owned and managed in order to enhance sustainability. Other debates also focus on whether small-scale enterprises are better positioned than large-scale industrial concessions to reduce poverty and attain sustainable management. In countries where large tracts of forest are state-owned, concessions are viewed as a means of delivering services of public and collective interest through an association of private investment and public regulation. However, the success of an industrial concession model in countries with large forest resource endowment to achieve multiple goals such as sustainable forest management and local/regional development depends on two critical assumptions. First, forest functions and services should be managed and maintained as public goods. In many cases, additional uses - and corresponding rights - can take place alongside logging activities. Industrial concessions can be more efficient than other tenure models (such as community-based forest management and small-scale enterprises) in achieving SFM, add value to raw material and comply with growing environmental norms. This is especially the case in market-remote areas with low population density and poor infrastructure. Secondly, to achieve these different outcomes, any concession system needs to be monitored and regulated, especially in contexts dominated by asymmetrical information between regulating authorities and concessionaires. New institutional responses have recently been put forward in several countries, providing valuable materials to design a renewed policy mix which associates public and private incentives. This paper provides a survey of the experience of forest concessions in several Central African and South American countries. The concession system is examined in order to clarify the issues involved, the problems encountered, and what can be learned from the shared experience of these countries in the last decade. This paper argues that despite a sometimes patchy record, concessions can help promote SFM so long as they are packaged with a certain number of specific measures. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Routine ultrasound screening in diabetic pregnancies

Objectives To assess the detection rate of congenital fetal malformations and specific problems related to routine ultrasound screening in women with pre-existing diabetes. Methods A retrospective study was carried out to assess the performance of routine ultrasound screening in women with pre-existing diabetes (Types 1 and 2) within a tertiary institution. The incidence, type and risk factors for congenital fetal malformations were determined. The detection rate of fetal anomalies for diabetic women was compared with that for the low-risk population. Factors affecting these detection rates were evaluated. Results During the study period, 12 169 low-risk pregnant women and 130 women with pre-existing diabetes had routine ultrasound screening performed within the institution. A total of 10 major anomalies (7.7%) and three minor anomalies (2.3%) were present in the fetuses of the diabetic women. Central nervous system and cardiovascular system anomalies accounted for 60% of the major anomalies. Peri-conceptional hemoglobin A 1 c of more than 9% was associated with a high prevalence of major anomalies (14311000). Women who had fetuses with major anomalies bad a significantly higher incidence of obesity (78% vs. 37%; P < 0.05). Ultrasound examination of these diabetic pregnancies showed high incidences of suboptimal image quality (37%), incomplete examinations, and repeat examinations (17%). Compared to the 'low-risk' non-diabetic population from the same institution, the relative risk for a major congenital anomaly among the diabetic women was 5.9-fold higher (95% confidence interval, 2.9-11.9). The detection rate for major fetal anomalies was significantly lower for diabetic women (30% vs. 73%; P < 0.01), and the mean body mass index for the diabetic group was significantly higher (29 vs. 23 kg/m(2); P < 0.001). Conclusion The incidence of congenital anomalies is higher in diabetic pregnancies. Unfortunately, the detection rate for fetal anomalies by antenatal ultrasound scan was significantly, worse than that for the low-risk population. This is likely to be related to the maternal body habitus and unsatisfactory examinations. Methods to overcome these difficulties are discussed.

Palco: a multisensor realtime 3D cartoon production system

This paper presents Palco, a prototype system specifically designed for the production of 3D cartoon animations. The system addresses the specific problems of producing cartoon animations, where the main obj ective is not to reproduce realistic movements, but rather animate cartoon characters with predefined and characteristic body movements and facial expressions. The techniques employed in Palco are simple and easy to use, not requiring any invasive or complicated motion capture system, as both body motion and facial expression of actors are captured simultaneously, using an infrared motion detection sensor, a regular camera and a pair of electronically instrumented gloves. The animation process is completely actor-driven, with the actor controlling the character movements, gestures, facial expression and voice, all in realtime. The actor controlled cartoonification of the captured facial and body motion is a key functionality of Palco, and one that makes it specifically suited for the production of cartoon animations.

Práticas curriculares em jardim de infância com crianças com perturbações do espetro do autismo

Dissertação apresentada à Escola Superior de Educação de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Educação - Especialização em Educação Especial

Reabilitação do edifício do Centro de Saúde da Parede, do Ministério da Saúde

Relatório de Estágio para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Civil na Área de Especialização em Edificações

Projecto de parceria entre a ONGD Estímulo e a Rede de Farmácias Portuguesas: a união de esforços entre sectores para a resolução de problemas contemporâneos

Trabalho de projeto apresentado à Escola Superior de Comunicação Social como parte dos requisitos para obtenção de grau de mestre em Gestão Estratégica das Relações Públicas.

Predicting type of delivery by identification of obstetric risk factors through data mining

In Maternity Care, a quick decision has to be made about the most suitable delivery type for the current patient. Guidelines are followed by physicians to support that decision; however, those practice recommendations are limited and underused. In the last years, caesarean delivery has been pursued in over 28% of pregnancies, and other operative techniques regarding specific problems have also been excessively employed. This study identifies obstetric and pregnancy factors that can be used to predict the most appropriate delivery technique, through the induction of data mining models using real data gathered in the perinatal and maternal care unit of Centro Hospitalar of Oporto (CHP). Predicting the type of birth envisions high-quality services, increased safety and effectiveness of specific practices to help guide maternity care decisions and facilitate optimal outcomes in mother and child. In this work was possible to acquire good results, achieving sensitivity and specificity values of 90.11% and 80.05%, respectively, providing the CHP with a model capable of correctly identify caesarean sections and vaginal deliveries.

Creació d’un programari per a l’avaluació de la qualitat dels resultats analítics generats al laboratori

La validació de mètodes és un dels pilars fonamentals de l’assegurament de la qualitat en els laboratoris d’anàlisi, tal i com queda reflectit en la norma ISO/IEC 17025. És, per tant, un aspecte que cal abordar en els plans d’estudis dels presents i dels futurs graus en Química. Existeix molta bibliografia relativa a la validació de mètodes, però molt sovint aquesta s’utilitza poc, degut a la dificultat manifesta de processar tota la informació disponible i aplicar-la al laboratori i als problemes concrets. Una altra de les limitacions en aquest camps és la manca de programaris adaptats a les necessitats del laboratori. Moltes de les rutines estadístiques que es fan servir en la validació de mètodes són adaptacions fetes amb Microsoft Excel o venen incorporades en paquets estadístics gegants, amb un alt grau de complexitat. És per aquest motiu que l’objectiu del projecte ha estat generar un programari per la validació de mètodes i l’assegurament de la qualitat dels resultats analítics, que incorporés únicament les rutines necessàries. Específicament, el programari incorpora les funcions estadístiques necessàries per a verificar l’exactitud i avaluar la precisió d’un mètode analític. El llenguatge de programació triat ha estat el Java en la seva versió 6. La part de creació del programari ha constat de les següents etapes: recollida de requisits, anàlisi dels requisits, disseny del programari en mòduls, programació d les funcions del programa i de la interfície gràfica, creació de tests d’integració i prova amb usuaris reals, i, finalment, la posada en funcionament del programari (creació de l’instal·lador i distribució del programari).

Modelling the Human Values Scale from Consumers Transactional Data Bases

The main objective of this paper aims at developing a methodology that takes into account the human factor extracted from the data base used by the recommender systems, and which allow to resolve the specific problems of prediction and recommendation. In this work, we propose to extract the user's human values scale from the data base of the users, to improve their suitability in open environments, such as the recommender systems. For this purpose, the methodology is applied with the data of the user after interacting with the system. The methodology is exemplified with a case study