Evaluating Urban Buses Performance: A Comparative Analysis of Brazilian Methodologies

Brazilian urban buses are operated by private enterprises under administrative contracts to local transport authorities. Usual contract duration is five-to-seven years, but competitive re-tendering may be avoided through a renewing option to be applied if incumbent presents a good performance. In some cities, however, federal mandate of compulsory tendering begins to be followed. In the two cases, some local authorities have developed methodologies for evaluating operators performance. In this paper, we analyse methodologies being used in two Brazilian local bus systems Recife and Belo Horizonte , with the objective of verifying their ability to induce competitive behaviours in the operators and their fitness to local authorities goals. Conclusions show that examined evaluation methodologies are limited mechanisms concerning the achievement of objectives like competitiveness, improvement of service quality and productive efficiency.Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies. Faculty of Economics and Business. The University of Sydne

Verhaltensprobleme in alternativen Legehennenhaltungen

In alternativen Haltungssystemen für Legehennen stellen Federpicken und Kannibalismus große Probleme dar. Aus der Literatur und Praxis besteht der Hinweis, dass ungünstige Aufzuchtbedingungen Hauptrisikofaktoren für das Auftreten dieser Verhaltensstörungen während der Legeperiode darstellen könnten. Hypothesenkataloge mit möglichen Risikofaktoren für Federpicken und Kannibalismus wurden erstellt und durch Berater und Wissenschaftler bewertet

Pilot study on the prevalence of salmonella in slaughter pigs in Germany: IV. Field experiences using the Danish serological method for detection

In an interlaboratory study on the prevalence of Salmonellae in German slaughter pigs a comparison of the traditional bacteriological and the serological technique used in the Danish Salmonella control programme was included. In total, about 12000 animals were investigated using both techniques. Samples were collected from February through June 1996. Seven slaughterhouses distributed over the whole country participated on a voluntary basis. A total of 11,942 animals delivered in 752 lots at ten occasions to the participating slaughterhouses were investigated. The lots often comprised pigs from individual finishing farms. From each lot, a maximum of 50 animals were sampled. A faecal swab, a mesenteric lymph node and a meat sample were collected from each carcass. The results of the microbiological analysis of faeces and lymph nodes of each animal were described in separate presentations

In search of graduate attributes: A survey of six flagship programmes

The focus of this study is the emergence of distinctive graduate attributes in flagship programmes at Universities of Technology in South Africa. The theoretical framework chosen for this study, Legitimation Code Theory (Maton 2014), offers an explanation of the underlying knowledge principles that make different kinds of thinking, doing and being possible. This paper studies how favourable graduate attributes were achieved, identifies similarities across underpinning structures, and highlights the challenges faced by universities of technology in creating environments in which desired graduate attributes might be developed. The paper offers a means of understanding the potential for the emergence of graduate attributes across undergraduate programmes in vocational and professional higher education contexts

Histological evaluation on Brazilian green propolis effect in tissue repair of Wistar rats cutaneous wounds

This study aimed to evaluate the action of Brazilian green propolis (5%) topic use on cutaneous wound healing in rats, by inflammatory cell counting. Ten Wistar rats were separated in groups 24 h and 72 h, were trichotomized under anesthesia on cervical-dorsal region, and 2 wounds were provoked with a biopsy punch (5 mm diameter). Left wound underwent Brazilian green propolis topic treatment, and right wounds received nothing. Tissue samples were processed for light microscopy with hematoxilineosin., and leucocytes, macrophages and fibroblasts were counted using a histometric reticule in ocular lens. In both groups, within 24 and 72 h evolution, treated wounds demonstrated significant bigger means for leucocytes, macrophages and fibroblasts. Brazilian green propolis resulted in inflammatory cell quantity increase, suggesting its action on tissue repair process.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Neuronal c-Jun is required for successful axonal regeneration, but the effects of phosphorylation of its N-terminus are moderate.

Although neural c-Jun is essential for successful peripheral nerve regeneration, the cellular basis of this effect and the impact of c-Jun activation are incompletely understood. In the current study, we explored the effects of neuron-selective c-Jun deletion, substitution of serine 63 and 73 phosphoacceptor sites with non-phosphorylatable alanine, and deletion of Jun N-terminal kinases 1, 2 and 3 in mouse facial nerve regeneration. Removal of the floxed c-jun gene in facial motoneurons using cre recombinase under control of a neuron-specific synapsin promoter (junΔS) abolished basal and injury-induced neuronal c-Jun immunoreactivity, as well as most of the molecular responses following facial axotomy. Absence of neuronal Jun reduced the speed of axonal regeneration following crush, and prevented most cut axons from reconnecting to their target, significantly reducing functional recovery. Despite blocking cell death, this was associated with a large number of shrunken neurons. Finally, junΔS mutants also had diminished astrocyte and microglial activation and T-cell influx, suggesting that these non-neuronal responses depend on the release of Jun-dependent signals from neighboring injured motoneurons. The effects of substituting serine 63 and 73 phosphoacceptor sites (junAA), or of global deletion of individual kinases responsible for N-terminal c-Jun phosphorylation were mild. junAA mutants showed decrease in neuronal cell size, a moderate reduction in post-axotomy CD44 levels and slightly increased astrogliosis. Deletion of Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)1 or JNK3 showed delayed functional recovery; deletion of JNK3 also interfered with T-cell influx, and reduced CD44 levels. Deletion of JNK2 had no effect. Thus, neuronal c-Jun is needed in regeneration, but JNK phosphorylation of the N-terminus mostly appears to not be required for its function

Tracking the Feeding Patterns of Tsetse Flies (Glossina Genus) by Analysis of Bloodmeals Using Mitochondrial Cytochromes Genes

Tsetse flies are notoriously difficult to observe in nature, particularly when populations densities are low. It is therefore difficult to observe them on their hosts in nature; hence their vertebrate species can very often only be determined indirectly by analysis of their gut contents. This knowledge is a critical component of the information on which control tactics can be developed. The objective of this study was to determine the sources of tsetse bloodmeals, hence investigate their feeding preferences. We used mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase 1 (COI) and cytochrome b (cytb) gene sequences for identification of tsetse fly blood meals, in order to provide a foundation for rational decisions to guide control of trypanosomiasis, and their vectors. Glossina swynnertoni were sampled from Serengeti (Tanzania) and G. pallidipes from Kenya (Nguruman and Busia), and Uganda. Sequences were used to query public databases, and the percentage identities obtained used to identify hosts. An initial assay showed that the feeds were from single sources. Hosts identified from blood fed flies collected in Serengeti ecosystem, included buffaloes (25/40), giraffes (8/40), warthogs (3/40), elephants (3/40) and one spotted hyena. In Nguruman, where G. pallidipes flies were analyzed, the feeds were from elephants (6/13) and warthogs (5/13), while buffaloes and baboons accounted for one bloodmeal each. Only cattle blood was detected in flies caught in Busia and Uganda. Out of four flies tested in Mbita Point, Suba District in western Kenya, one had fed on cattle, the other three on the Nile monitor lizard. These results demonstrate that cattle will form an integral part of a control strategy for trypanosomiasis in Busia and Uganda, while different approaches are required for Serengeti and Nguruman ecosystems, where wildlife abound and are the major component of the tsetse fly food source