Era uma vez... a imagem do árabe nas histórias infantis segundo as crianças

Esta dissertação tem por objectivo analisar algumas histórias infantis que retratam o Árabe, olhando de perto os traços dessa representação simbólica e confrontando-a com a apropriação que delas fazem as crianças. Para esse efeito foram seleccionados quatro textos, nomeadamente O Sultão Solimão e o Criado Maldonado, A Moura de Monchique, O Bobo do Sultão e Ali Babá e os 40 Ladrões. No respeitante à metodologia, foram utilizados técnicas e métodos qualitativos, justificados pela natureza exploratória da investigação, não apenas junto das crianças, mas também de professores e de agentes mediadores do processo literário – uma escritora, uma ilustradora e uma editora. Na tentativa de compreendermos o modo como estes textos são hoje recebidos pelos mais novos, foram realizadas entrevistas em profundidade e investigação visual. Do tapete voador da narrativa, veremos como crianças entre os cinco e os oito anos de idade fazem hoje sentido de mensagens seculares e qual o posicionamento das crianças inquiridas face à descrição do Outro. Os resultados da investigação a que procedemos revelam que a apropriação de conteúdos é mais influenciada pelo meio cultural de inserção da criança do que, por exemplo, pelo género. O estudo demonstra ainda uma clara mudança de atitude face ao Árabe, antes e depois de escutadas as histórias.In this dissertation, we look at a few stories for children that portray the Arab and analyze from a close angle the aspects of their symbolic representation against content appropriation by young children. For that purpose, four stories were selected – two modern Portuguese short stories and a further two from the 1001 Nights collection. In terms of methodology, and based upon the exploratory nature of this research, we used qualitative methods and techniques, not only with the children but also with adult mediators, such as teachers and agents of the literary process – a writer, an illustrator and a a representative from a publishing house. In the attempt to further understand the way these stories are today received by the youngest, our line of study also contemplated in-depth interviews and visual research. From the flying carpet of the narrative, we look at how children aged five to eight make sense of retold stories and the stance they take when faced with the description of the Other. The results of our study show that content appropriation is more impacted by the child’s cultural ambiance than, say, by genre. The conducted research also reveals a clear change of attitude towards the Arab, prior to and following the narration of the stories

Curva de estimativa das internações hospitalares nas regiões metropolitanas brasileiras: um estudo de série histórica

RESUMO O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar as variações temporais na distribuição das internações hospitalares realizadas no Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) em todas as Regiões Metropolitanas brasileiras entre os anos de 1995 e 2006. Trata-se de estudo ecológico de série histórica com dados secundários referentes às 36 regiões metropolitanas brasileiras. Realizou-se a análise descritiva dos dados, correlação de Spearman e curva de estimativa. Os resultados indicam que o Teste F foi significativo em ordem decrescente para os modelos linear (p=0,001), quadrático (p=0,002) e cúbico (p=0,004). Por outro lado, os valores de R2 apresentaram ordem crescente de valores – 0,277; 0,307 e 0,338, respectivamente. O modelo cúbico mostrou que o percentual médio de internações hospitalares em 2006 apresentou tendência de queda quando comparado ao percentual médio de internações no ano de 1995. Conclui-se que o percentual de internações hospitalares realizadas no SUS nas regiões metropolitanas brasileiras decresceu durante o período analisado. Descritores: Hospitalização; Admissão do Paciente; Serviços de Informação; Sistema Único de Saúde; Epidemiologia

Empoderamento e qualidade de vida de adolescentes trabalhadores assistidos por uma entidade filantrópica de apoio ao adolescente

The scope of this work is to assess the empowerment of working adolescents and test its possible association with their quality of life. This was a transversal study held with 363 working adolescents that are assisted by a Charity Institution. Data was gathered by applying two questionnaires, one used to measure the quality of life (WHOQoL-Bref), the other were the questions on empowerment from the Integrated Questionnaire for the Measurement of Social Capital (SC-IQ) from the World Bank. The dependent variable (empowerment) was constructed by grouping participants, upon segmentation analysis. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the scores of the WHOQoL-Bref domains (physical, psychological, social relations and environment) among the clusters, with 5% significance. With regard to the segmentation analysis, 126 (34.7%) adolescents were classified as having low empowerment, 161 (44.4%) formed the intermediary group and 70 (19.3%) had greater empowerment. The cluster with high empowerment had the highest quality of life score averages in all domains. The Kruskal-Wallis test revealed statistically significant difference between the clusters in the psychological (p=0,001), social relations (p=0,003) and global (p=0,024) domains. We conclude that the best quality of life scores were found in the group of adolescents with greater empowerment.O objetivo deste trabalho foi medir o empoderamento de adolescentes trabalhadores e testar sua possível associação com a qualidade de vida. Estudo transversal realizado com 363 adolescentes trabalhadores assistidos por uma Entidade Filantrópica de Apoio ao Adolescente. A coleta de dados ocorreu por meio da aplicação de dois questionários, sendo um utilizado para mensurar a qualidade de vida (WHOQoL-Bref) e as questões sobre empoderamento do Questionário Integrado para Medir Capital Social do Banco Mundial (QIMCS). A variável dependente (empoderamento) foi construída pelo agrupamento dos participantes, por meio da análise de segmentação. O teste Kruskal-Wallis foi utilizado para a comparação dos escores dos domínios do WHOQoL-Bref (físico, psicológico, relações sociais e meio ambiente) entre os clusters, com 5% de significância. Em relação à análise de segmentação, 126 (34,7%) adolescentes foram classificados como de baixo empoderamento, 161 (44,4%) formaram o grupo moderado e 70 (19,3%) possuíam maior empoderamento. O cluster com alto empoderamento apresentou as maiores médias dos escores de qualidade de vida em todos os domínios. O teste Kruskal-Wallis revelou diferenças estaticamente significantes entre os clusters para os domínios psicológico (p=0,001), relações sociais (p=0,003) e global (p=0,024). Concluiu-se que melhores escores de qualidade de vida foram encontrados no grupo de adolescentes com maior empoderamento

An analysis of the essential medicines policy in primary care : findings from MedMinas project

Background: Essential Medicines Policy (EMP) has been adopted in Brazil to improve the provision and use of pharmaceuticals. This mixed methods study aims to bring evidence of the EMP implemented in municipalities in the context of primary care in Minas Gerais (20,997,560 inhabitants), Southeast Brazil. Methods: We analysed the core output of the EMP, i.e., the municipal essential medicines lists (MEML) and the effects of the policy on the procurement and availability of medicines. Data sources included a sample of 1,019 individuals (patients, health managers and health professionals), 995 prescriptions, 2,365 dispensed medicines and policy documents from 26 municipalities. Data were collected between April and October 2019. Document analysis and thematic content analysis were performed, and four availability indexes were estimated. Results: The findings suggest an overall lack of standardised and methodologically sound procedures to elaborate the MEML. Funding and public purchasing processes were found to be the major obstacles to medicine procurement. Only 63% of medicines were available at public community pharmacies and just 46.2% of patients had full access to their pharmaceutical treatment. Conclusion: This study reveals weaknesses in the implementation of EMP and a clear disconnection between medicines selection, procurement, and availability, the three core elements of the supply system. These findings contribute to informing future policy improvement actions to strengthen this system. Other countries aiming to advance towards universal health coverage may learn from the challenges that primary care in Brazil still needs to address

Synthesis, Characterization and Optical Activity of RE-doped ZnWO4 Nanorods and Nanospheres by Hydrothermal Method

This work has investigated the effect of different dopants on structure, morphology and optical property of ZnWO4. Rare-earth doped ZnWO4 (ZnWO4:RE, with 0.5, 1, and 2 mol% of Eu3+ and Pr3+) were successfully synthesized by coprecipitation method followed by microwave-assisted hydrothermal system at 140 °C for 1 h. XRD indicated that the crystals have a wolframite- type monoclinic structure and with the addition of dopants the crystallite size decreased. HR-TEM images revealed interesting homogenous nanorods for pure ZnWO4 crystals with grow along (021) direction. For ZnWO4: RE we have found nanospheres morphologies, in which the decreasing crystal size were dependent on the RE doping concentration. IR spectra confirm the crystals structure. Ultraviolet–Visible diffuse reflectance spectra indicated that the optical band gap varies with increasing replacement of Zn2+ by RE ions. Egap was characteristic of semiconductor materials. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17807/orbital.v11i2.1350 &nbsp

Performance of a pharmaceutical services regionalization strategy policy in Minas Gerais, Brazil : pre-post analysis from ERAF project

Background: In 2016, the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais (∼20 million people), implemented the ERAF policy ("Regionalization Strategy of Pharmaceutical Services") in an effort to improve medicine procurement and distribution within primary care. We evaluated the impact of the policy on three main goals: price reductions, volume increases, and expansion of therapeutic options. Methods: We analyzed the procurement data from the Integrated System of Management of Pharmaceutical Services database in 2012 and 2018. We estimated the volume, drug mix, and expenditure indicators for all major therapeutic classes, and, in detail, for cardiovascular and nervous system drugs. We evaluated the expenditure drivers using decomposition analyses. Results: Overall, the expenditure increased by 14.5%, drug mix almost doubled, while the volume decreased by a third. Cardiovascular and neurological system drugs followed similar patterns. Decomposition analyses showed that prices and drug mix had positive effects while the volume had negative effects, resulting in an overall increase in expenditure. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the ERAF policy cannot be considered effective as it has not fulfilled its intended purposes so far. Strategies to address the identified problems and to build a platform for a more sustainable long-lasting policy should be put in place by the government

MedMinas project : design and use of mixed methods in the evaluation of pharmaceutical services in primary health care in Minas Gerais, Brazil

Background: The main purposes of primary care-based pharmaceutical services (PHCPS) in Brazil are to provide free access to medicines and pharmaceutical care to patients. Several obstacles hinder achieving their goals; thus, MedMinas Project aimed to evaluate the PHCPS, the supply system, and the use of medicines. This paper reflects on our experience designing, planning, and conducting the project, describing the issues yielded in the field and lessons learned. Methods: This work consists of a mixed-methods study conducted in Minas Gerais, Southeastern Brazil. We adopted the principles of Rapid Evaluation Methods, employing a multistage stratified sampling for the quantitative and a purposeful sampling for the qualitative components, respectively, and a documentary research. Data sources included individuals (patients and professionals), prescriptions, dispensed medicines, and policy documents collected between April and October 2019. The quantitative data described in this paper were analysed by descriptive statistics and the qualitative by Thematic Content Analysis. Results: A total of 26 municipalities varying from 37,784 to 409,341 inhabitants were included. The field team spent, on average, 16 days in each location. We interviewed 1019 respondents, of which 127 were professionals and 892 patients. The participation rate varied from 92 to 100%, depending on the respondent subgroup. Most interviews lasted between 45 min and one hour. Fieldwork challenges included participants’ enrolment, field team, interview processes, and project budget. The participants provided positive feedback and five main themes emerged from the interview experience (self-awareness, sense of gratitude, research value, access to findings, and benefits of the research). Additionally, we collected copies of 1072 documents and 2070 pieces of data from prescriptions filled and medicines dispensed at the PCP. Conclusion: We demonstrated the viability of conducting the MedMinas Project in an extensive geographic area within effective time frames that provided meaningful, high-quality data from multiple actors. The methods and lessons learned are valuable for researchers across various disciplines in similar urban settings in Brazil and other countries of low- and middle-income (LMIC)

Analysis of the chlorine consumption for oxidation of the cyanobacteria species Microcystis aeruginosa

This study evaluated the chlorine consumption of the Microcystis aeruginosa species present in blooms in water supply sources, since the legislation requires the minimum maintenance of free residual chlorine should be 0.2 mg.L-1 or 2 mg.L-1 of combined residual chlorine and a residue from 3 to 5 mg.L-1 after 7 days. Chlorine gas analyzes were performed in laboratory scale: 8 dosages for 30 minutes and 24 hours tests and 7 dosages for 7 days. The results showed high chlorine consumption, what can be related to by-products formation of chlorination in the water treatment

Synthesis, Characterization and Optical Activity of RE-doped ZnWO4 Nanorods and Nanospheres by Hydrothermal Method

This work has investigated the effect of different dopants on structure, morphology and optical property of ZnWO4. Rare-earth doped ZnWO4 (ZnWO4:RE, with 0.5, 1, and 2 mol% of Eu3+ and Pr3+) were successfully synthesized by coprecipitation method followed by microwave-assisted hydrothermal system at 140 °C for 1 h. XRD indicated that the crystals have a wolframite- type monoclinic structure and with the addition of dopants the crystallite size decreased. HR-TEM images revealed interesting homogenous nanorods for pure ZnWO4 crystals with grow along (021) direction. For ZnWO4: RE we have found nanospheres morphologies, in which the decreasing crystal size were dependent on the RE doping concentration. IR spectra confirm the crystals structure. Ultraviolet–Visible diffuse reflectance spectra indicated that the optical band gap varies with increasing replacement of Zn2+ by RE ions. Egap was characteristic of semiconductor materials. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17807/orbital.v11i2.1350